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Just as we begin to get over the Lakme
India Fashion Week (LIFW) fatigue, another fashion mania
hits our TV screens and newspapers. The Cannes Film Festival
is the touchstone for international filmmakers, a place
to joust for the coveted Palm d’Or, an annual forum to
celebrate the best that filmmaking has to offer. But for
Indians, it is reduced to a who-wore-what frenzy that
would befit a page-3 evening. It all started when Aishwarya
Rai was a Cannes juror in 2003. Eyebrows were raised at
her slim credentials to judge the films in competition.
But her unfortunate choice of wardrobe a la Neeta Lula
stole the show. Ever since, Rai cried foul, parroting
the “it’s a pity that the media chose to focus on what
I wore rather than my accomplishment” defence.
But this year, it’s a different tale.
We have three seemingly different women gracing the steps
of the Palais de festival - the ‘serious/arty’ Nandita
Das sits on the jury, “bombshell babe” Mallika Sherawat
stars opposite Jackie Chan in the Myth and the “crossover
aspirant/queen of coy” Rai opened the festival. This farfetched
collective mirrors the quandary that the Indian films
are in. Bollywood’s desire for international acclaim is
at war with its internal impetus for formulaic repetitiveness,
skin flicks and item numbers, leaving independent films
on the fringe for the critics to chew over.
This ménage a trois has been placed
bang in the middle of world consciousness, making for
a farcical though entertaining sideshow. Even their choice
of attire furthers the clichés that they embody.
Rai with her Armani dresses seems at pains to underline
her ‘international’ ambitions. Sherawat sticks to Indian
designers but her take on the sexed-up Indian princess,
as is her role in the Myth, results in something that
would do a porn star proud. While Das’s presence at Cannes
is impervious to trivialities such as fashion, she too
goes overboard in proclaiming her Indian roots with her
almost bridal saree and jewellery.
Of the three, Sherawat evokes the strongest
reaction. Her cleavage baring, low cut cholis and waist
high slits have resulted in puritanical tirades by media
pundits. By refusing to play politically correct, she
has laid bare the blatant side of Bollywood that promises
instant notoriety to females willing to shed their clothes
and their inhibitions. While Sherawat might be its current
poster child, she is only delineating a reality that exists.
But this is not the story. While we managed
to make somewhat of a splash on the glamour side of the
festival, as a filmmaking country our only real contribution
was a restored print of Satyajit Ray’s classic Pather
Panchali. Given that the film was made in 1955, it’s an
abysmal report card for the world’s largest film producing
nation.
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